And the Hits Just Keep on Coming…
A terrific outing for Tokyo Fashion as designers find their footing in the new language of Street Fashion
By Ali Khan
Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo | Fall/Winter 2021 | March 15–21, 2021
It’s not a good omen when you receive news just a few weeks prior that Jun Takahashi will be showing both his Undercover F/W ’21 menswear and womenswear collections at Tokyo Fashion Week — something he has not done in nineteen years. Having attended Tokyo Fashion Week for some years now, the announcement was a huge disappointment. Missing out on witnessing Takahashi’s show in person because of the never-ending pandemic and related travel restrictions was the equivalent of ruining a perfect attendance record.
But as I have come to know, Tokyo Fashion Week, “Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo” to be exact (they are very insistent!) is nothing if not full of shock. Thankfully when it came to the clothes, I was pleasantly surprised. Beyond the personal grievance, this fashion week was far from a disappointment. In fact, Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo put out one of the strongest showings in a few seasons after lackluster recent outings.
Neglect Adult Patients
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Neglect Adult Patients (not to be confused with the European Pandemic strategy) put forward another surreal presentation. Previously, we saw models eating ramen and volunteers escorting dress forms down the runway. This time there was clown make-up, a laser show, impromptu breaks on the catwalk, and yes, more ramen eating! The clothing, in contrast, was the usual — hoodies, parkas, windbreakers, and comfy hospital slippers — in fuchsia, red tartan, glossed coated fabrics, with more emphasis on logos. Perfect for staying at home during lockdowns or a run to the grocery store.
DressedUndressed
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Over the seasons, DressedUndressed has given us theatrical shows with a clear statement (i.e. androgyny, gender fluidity). The statement is always underscored by masterful tailoring, creating a crisp, modern silhouette. There are some people who wear nothing but a handful of muted colors or staple clothing pieces every day and if you are one of them, you could happily live your entire life in DressedUndressed.
Balmung
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Balmung continued to explore the relationships between people and cityscapes with yet another well-rounded, well-crafted collection that gave us everything we have come to love about them. The urban futuristic collection had enough geometrical patterns to give us vertigo (in a good way) and complemented with oversized pockets, structural silhouettes in hi-tech fabrics, it could stand in as a masterclass in tailoring.
Children of the Discordance
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
The latest Tokyo fashion export and a current favorite of aspiring western fashion influencers, Children of the Discordance presented a thoughtful collection moving forward from their signature bandana patterns (a well-timed move as it dots the racks of high street brands) to more intricate prints referencing Persian carpets and North African architecture. Patterns are one of the hippest trends, also evidenced by the success of the Paris-based brand, Casablanca. Children of the Discordance did not completely part ways with the bandana print, presenting a more sophisticated iteration while mixing muted earth tones and light pastels, and all in slightly oversized silhouettes of shirts, jumpers, pajamas, denim jackets, and trench coats.
Keisuke Yoshida
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Keisuke Yoshida presented an installation by recreating a classroom space with live models standing in as students. The installation carried an unnerving ambiance, perhaps an appropriate commentary on what school life during the pandemic has become. The collection delicately walked the line between luxury and deconstruction (a trademark deftness among the best of Japanese designers) but also between youth and adulthood. Fine quality tweed and wools were mixed with hoodies and abstract prints and hints of school uniforms resulting in something that could be the uniform of the pandemic generation graduating during lockdowns and unsure of where the future lies.
Ka Wa Key
Interestingly, a brand we reviewed for New York Fashion Week recently decided to showcase their collection at RakutenFWT as well. This was a peculiar decision as it was not even a month ago that they showed this exact collection. What it did do, however, was highlight how the fashion weeks’ of each city have such a distinct identity. A collection that thrived in the bohemian vibes of NYFW looked completely out of place, with the feeling of a graduate student’s collection when placed in the stronger than usual edition of RakutenFWT that this season turned out to be. And with the vast majority of the viewing happening online, it seems a waste to show the same collection in two different places. Perhaps an excuse to travel, which is difficult to justify these days without a very real and urgent need.
RequaL
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
Photo: Courtesy Rakuten Fashion Week Tokyo
The grand finale of the fashion week belonged to RequaL, another brand known for their over the top aesthetics and styling. Giving a feel of a messy teenager’s bedroom, the collection was equal parts kawaii and street-tough, deconstructed and jumbled up to create something that might look like a parent’s worst nightmare. Beautiful knitwear shredded and destroyed, oversized blazers torn and twisted, bomber jackets and trench coats turned inside out, bandana print fabrics constructed into pyramid tents that hung over the shoulder, and models dressed up in bear costumes in oversized fleece hoodies are only a few of the standout highlights from a collection that embraced the maximalist philosophy. RequaL showed us that streetwear does not have to be boring, basic, and overly reliant on graphic design if the designers actually have proficient pattern cutting skills.
Street Style
What will be missed and cannot be replicated is the street style that always accompanies Tokyo Fashion Week. The fashion week most known for what is happening outside the venues as much as what is happening inside looks incomplete without that spectacle; as if an appendage has been cut off. Here’s hoping that the next edition returns to an in-person affair and that ‘Neglect Adult Patient’ remains only as a successful fashion brand and not anything more.
